Recommends
Y
’
downthe
highwayandmisstheexit
becauseyouwererehashing
aconversationwitha friend
inyourhead.Oryou’re inameeting
andcan’trecallawordanyonesaid
becauseyouwerethinkingabouta
recentbeachvacation.
Sound familiar?Onceconsidered
theprovinceofthe lazyandabsent-
minded,daydreaming isfinallyget-
ting itsdue.Psychologistsnowsaya
wanderingmindcanboostproduc-
tivity,helpachievegoals,and inspire
solutionstopeskyproblems.
“Creative ideasdon’tcomewhen
you’re focusedonyourgoal; they
comewhenyourmindhaswan-
dered fromyour task,”saysScott
BarryKaufman, scientificdirector
ofTheImaginationInstituteand
researchassociate in thePositive
PsychologyCenterat theUniversity
ofPennsylvania.
Thinkaboutthe lasttimeyouhad
aeurekamoment.Wereyouatyour
deskconsciouslymullingthetaskat
hand,orwereyoutakingashower,
onthegolfcourse,orout jogging?
Most likelyyouwereengaged inan
activitythatallowedyourbrainto
relaxortakeaminivacation.
That’sbecausecreativeinsights
resultfromsimultaneouslyaccessing
multipleareasofourbrain.Research-
ersthinkdaydreaminginvolvesthe
“default”region,wherememories,the
meaningofevents, self-awareness,
futureplanning,andotherprocesses
reside.Recentstudiesalsoindicate
the“executivenetwork,”which is
associatedwithcomplex-problem
solving, ishighlyengagedwhenwe
focusonthecontentsofourday-
dreams. Bottomline:Bigideasre-
quirereflectionandwisdomgleaned
fromourinnerlives,accordingto
Kaufman,who is also theauthor
of
Ungifted: IntelligenceRedefined
,
andaself-professeddaydreamer.
“We’renotcapableof imagination
ifwecannotrecallmemoriesand
information fromourpast,”hesays.
Thatmayexplainwhy, asaculture
obsessedwitheciencyandoutput,
wespendbetween30and50per-
centofourwakinghoursdaydream-
ing, according tooneestimate.
Could itbeawanderingmind isone
worth following?
Googlethinksso.Thecompanyhas
apolicyallowingemployeestospend
upto20percentoftheirtimeworking
onaprojectoftheirchoosing.Clearly,
employeesdomorethandaydream
duringhiatusfromtheirocialduties,
butitdoesrequirethemtoshutout
theexternalworldanddelveinward.
It’sanexerciseweshouldallem-
brace,Kaufmansays,especially if
wewantto livemoremeaningful
andhappy lives.Sodon’tputore-
laxingbythepoolor lounging inthe
hammockwithacoldglassof iced
tea.There’sworktobedone.
SUMMER
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THERE’SNOBETTERTIME
THANSUMMERTOLETYOUR
MINDWANDER
.
KATHLEENPARRISH
13
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